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Monday, 8 August 2011

How Twitter can land you a job

Chances are, you’re on Facebook. You might have a Linked In profile too. And there’s a possibility you’ve indulged in a bit of tweeting from time to time. At the moment, you’re probably using your social media accounts to organise your social life, keep up a running commentary of Britain’s Got Talent, or keep connected with your nearest and dearest.

But did you know your Twitter account could land you a job?

Here are ten tips for Twitter success in the job market.

1) Desperate to work for a certain company? Follow them on Twitter. More and more companies use Twitter as a first port of call to advertise their vacancies.

2) Use that Twitter bio to pimp yourself out. That little space should be your sales pitch, and it’s often the deciding factor for whether people will follow you or not. Give them a reason to follow you. Describing your favourite sandwich filling or revealing the name of your cat is not what employers are looking for (unless the employer is Marmite. Or the RSPCA.)

3) Consider posting a TwitCV. Squeeze your experience, ambitions and skills into a tweet (leaving room so others can retweet you) and you might just catch the eye of that perfect employer.

4) Use the link in your profile for your online portfolio. There are a few free options about, like extendr.com, and you could always link to your LinkedIn page or blog if you prefer.

5) Communicate! Chat to other people, use it as a networking tool and share other people’s content. You never know what opportunities you could pick up from these new contacts. A friendly, informative tweeter is always more likely to get a follow.

6) Check your spelling and grammar. Install a dictionary to your browser and make sure you use it! Consider installing After The Deadline too for a final check. Twitter is full of journalists, PRs and bloggers, and they can spot bad grammar a mile off.

7) Got a blog or website? Tweet your latest posts (2-3 times a day to catch different time zones). Your followers can then easily access your ‘About Me’ and ‘Hire Me’ pages.

8) Search for hashtags and keywords relevant to your chosen career area, read up and share as much content as you can. Basically, if you want a career in a certain field, you’ll need to prove that you know your stuff and that you’re constantly learning. Consider signing up to an edition of paper.li, which gives you a daily roundup of content related to your Twitter account or keyword.

9) Don’t overshare. Twitter is social, but a potential employer can see what you’re saying, and many employers now do a social media search before inviting candidates to interview. Try to keep your hangover/relationship/bored statuses to Facebook when possible.

10) Try a Twitter job search engine, like TwitJobSearch.com, which can help you find the latest jobs that agencies and employers have tweeted about.